“Given the sometimes maddening pace of software updates, we’ve settled on the following policy. Where possible, we will continue to provide free updates to ebooks (PDF, epub, mobi) for minor point releases of software. That is, if a language/framework/platform revs from 2.1 to 2.2, we’ll try and cover that in a free update to the corresponding ebook, which will be reflected in the next paper printing as needed.

For major point releases, such as from 2.x to 3.x, we’ll release a new edition, which is considered a whole new book. While the minor point revisions are provided for free, the major point revisions are not, and no additional discount applies.

We try to be fair to our authors. In most cases, the author has to spend so much time revising a manuscript for a major revision, that it’s essentially a whole new book. Think of it like model years for cars.”